TRAVEL: PREIKESTOLEN HIKE, NORWAY

There have been some big moments during the last three weeks’ of adventures around the UK, Italy and Norway, and the usual plans to document on the blog almost immediately fell by the wayside. As it usually goes I suppose, but more so for this trip as I also did spend a large portion of it in work mode and wanted to prioritise sightseeing/leisure in my down time. And while there are several eateries and adventures that I would hope to eventually get around to capturing on the blog, I’m going to skip forward to towards the end of this trip with a recap of the Preikestolen hike in Stavanger, Norway.

Ahhh Norway, beautiful Norway. You had me captivated at first glance as I looked out of the window during the descent into Stavanger. Blue waters, lush green landscape and all. I landed just before 2pm on a Sunday afternoon and really only had this time to fit in a hike/some solid sightseeing before the work commitments kicked in from Monday through to Wednesday (and then home).

Turns out fitting in a 40 minute ferry ride followed by a 20 minute drive to the base and then the actual 3 hour (ish) hike was absolutely doable thanks to (A) it being summer and the sun going down at 11pm (bizarre!), (B) efficient processing at the airport (small airport) and a speedy transit from the airport to the city (small city), and (C) accompaniment by a new friend who knew her way around and so kindly drove us to the hiking spot.

We were greeted with the elevation profile at the base so I had some idea as to what to expect. There were three significantly elevated inclines that we had to conquer, and relatively flat to somewhat elevated terrain in between. A solid and sweaty climb guaranteed… but you reap the rewards of these efforts even well before reaching the top, with beautiful captivating views throughout. The cherry on top is of course reaching Preikestolen. Words can not even describe just how stunning this setting was… breathtakingly beautiful. Heck, the photos also don’t do it justice… You’ll just have to see it for yourself!